Adopted Children From Ukraine Who Left Just Days Before Invasion Now Safe With Manitoba Family

“[They said], “Your children” passports are inside and you move within an hour. So pick up everything, pick up the kids. “We are transporting you right now,” recalls Trish Braun. Brown was in the country preparing to bring home three brothers from a Ukrainian orphanage – a process that was halted as the danger of an impending invasion loomed large. “To go from three weeks left [of our trip] “For example, ‘We might be able to figure this out in a day or two,’” he said. She arrived in Ukraine at the end of January, her third and final trip in the adoption process. She and her husband, Mike Braun, first spent six weeks there last October, and then a few weeks back in December for a court hearing. On January 21, the Grunthal couple officially became the legal guardians of the three children. Trish Braun and her three recently adopted brothers are pictured here during their 20-hour trip to Lviv in February, shortly before the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (Submitted by Trish Braun)
During their initial trip in the fall, the couple could already feel the growing tensions with Russia. When it came time to bring the three children home, the Brauns decided it would be best for Trish to go alone, while Mike stayed home with their other five children – their two biological sons and three other siblings. Ukraine they had adopted in 2019. If something happened, he would meet her in Ukraine to help them all get home. Until the phone call from the adoption coordinator, Tris did not feel overly nervous about the possibility of invasion or war. People in Ukraine have taken their own lives, with some saying do not worry. But anxious family and friends at her home in Manitoba sent her messages. An hour after the phone call, Tris, the three children and a facilitator gathered in a van, unsure of where they were going. The embassy in Kyiv was already closed and so they headed further west. Only in the city of Lviv in western Ukraine, after about 20 hours of driving, Tris was able to obtain her children’s visas and complete the remaining paperwork. Shortly after midnight on February 18, after a 48-hour journey, Tris and her children arrived in Winnipeg. The bombings had already begun to intensify in eastern Ukraine from that point. One week later, Russia invaded and the war began. Mike and the couple’s other five children welcomed Tris and their three new family members to the airport. The Brown family welcomed Tris and her three new family members home in the early hours of February 18, just a week before the Russian invasion began. (Submitted by Trish Braun)
These siblings, ranging in age from six to 16 and speaking different levels of English, have supported each other throughout the long transition. Now with six adopted children from Ukraine, the couple has a tough but important discussion with them about what is happening in the war. “They hear things from school and are sometimes connected and see things. We try to get as much real information about them from real people as possible, so we base our conversations on facts,” Trish said. Just over six weeks after returning home, the urgent phone call Tris received and the hasty return trip to Manitoba is now a murky one, he says, thanks to the adrenaline and maternal instinct that prevails. “Parents start when the time comes. So I felt this had to happen.”

title: “Adopted Children From Ukraine Who Left Just Days Before Invasion Now Safe With Manitoba Family " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-13” author: “Noel Council”

“[They said], “Your children” passports are inside and you move within an hour. So pick up everything, pick up the kids. “We are transporting you right now,” recalls Trish Braun. Brown was in the country preparing to bring home three brothers from a Ukrainian orphanage – a process that was halted as the danger of an impending invasion loomed large. “To go from three weeks left [of our trip] “For example, ‘We might be able to figure this out in a day or two,’” he said. She arrived in Ukraine at the end of January, her third and final trip in the adoption process. She and her husband, Mike Braun, first spent six weeks there last October, and then a few weeks back in December for a court hearing. On January 21, the Grunthal couple officially became the legal guardians of the three children. Trish Braun and her three recently adopted brothers are pictured here during their 20-hour trip to Lviv in February, shortly before the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (Submitted by Trish Braun)
During their initial trip in the fall, the couple could already feel the growing tensions with Russia. When it came time to bring the three children home, the Brauns decided it would be best for Trish to go alone, while Mike stayed home with their other five children – their two biological sons and three other siblings. Ukraine they had adopted in 2019. If something happened, he would meet her in Ukraine to help them all get home. Until the phone call from the adoption coordinator, Tris did not feel overly nervous about the possibility of invasion or war. People in Ukraine have taken their own lives, with some saying do not worry. But anxious family and friends at her home in Manitoba sent her messages. An hour after the phone call, Tris, the three children and a facilitator gathered in a van, unsure of where they were going. The embassy in Kyiv was already closed and so they headed further west. Only in the city of Lviv in western Ukraine, after about 20 hours of driving, Tris was able to obtain her children’s visas and complete the remaining paperwork. Shortly after midnight on February 18, after a 48-hour journey, Tris and her children arrived in Winnipeg. The bombings had already begun to intensify in eastern Ukraine from that point. One week later, Russia invaded and the war began. Mike and the couple’s other five children welcomed Tris and their three new family members to the airport. The Brown family welcomed Tris and her three new family members home in the early hours of February 18, just a week before the Russian invasion began. (Submitted by Trish Braun)
These siblings, ranging in age from six to 16 and speaking different levels of English, have supported each other throughout the long transition. Now with six adopted children from Ukraine, the couple has a tough but important discussion with them about what is happening in the war. “They hear things from school and are sometimes connected and see things. We try to get as much real information about them from real people as possible, so we base our conversations on facts,” Trish said. Just over six weeks after returning home, the urgent phone call Tris received and the hasty return trip to Manitoba is now a murky one, he says, thanks to the adrenaline and maternal instinct that prevails. “Parents start when the time comes. So I felt this had to happen.”